Tag: Mali

Mali Islamist to pay millions in compensation for damaged mausoleums, but nothing for churches

August 18, 2017 Mali Bamako, Gao, International Criminal Court, Mali, Timbuktu

The International Criminal Court has ordered an Islamist leader to pay 2.7m euros ($3.1m) for the destruction of mausoleums in Mali’s northern city of Timbuktu. Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi pleaded guilty to ordering the destruction of the historic shrines at the World Heritage Site during the occupation of northern Mali by . . . Read More

African mission leader searches for positives despite deadly surge of jihadist violence

May 30, 2017 Africa, Boko Haram, Burkina Faso, Europe, Garissa, Gloria Argoti, Islamic extremism, Ivory Coast, Jeff Woodke, Ken Elliott, Lagos, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia

Attacks attributed to radical Islamic groups are happening on a weekly, or even daily, basis in Africa, posing security concerns across a vast swathe of the continent. The phenomenon has dramatically affected Church activities in various regions. But Rev. Reuben E. Ezemadu, Coordinator of the Movement for African National Initiatives . . . Read More

Mali: 2 months on, still no news of kidnapped nun

April 12, 2017 Mali Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Gao, Gloria Argoti, Kidnapping, Mali, Timbuktu

It’s been more than two months since a Colombian nun was kidnapped in southern Mali, a relatively safe part of the country, which has been mainly unaffected by Islamist attacks. Gloria Argoti, in her sixties, was kidnapped on 7 Feb, when assailants broke into her convent in Karangasso, 300km from . . . Read More

Rising Islamist militancy across Sahel belt threatens African Christianity

September 8, 2016 Agadez, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Beatrice Stockly, Islamic extremism, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Muammar Gaddafi, Niger, Sahel, Timbuktu, Tuareg, West Africa

More than 70 churches, as well as Christian homes, schools and orphanages,were burned down by Islamists in Niger in January 2015.World Watch Monitor As the world focusses on potential military advances against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, it risks overlooking another vast region where militant Islam is . . . Read More

Mali’s mausoleums rebuilt, but not churches

July 23, 2015 Mali Burkina Faso, Islamic extremism, Mali, Niger, Timbuktu

Fourteen mausoleums in the city of Timbuktu in northern Mali have been rebuilt, three years after they were destroyed by Islamist extremists. The reconstruction was overseen by Unesco. For most of 2012, armed Islamist groups ruled the region, banning the practice of other religions and desecrating and looting churches and other . . . Read More

Tuareg Islamists refuse to sign peace deal

May 18, 2015 Mali Baptists, Islamic extremism, Mali, MNLA, Tuareg

The boycotting of a peace deal by Mali’s main Tuareg rebel group leaves in doubt the likelihood of bringing security to the country after years of chaos and violence. The Algerian foreign minister who helped mediate the deal, said on Friday that Mali’s government, allied armed groups and two groups . . . Read More

Migrants thrown overboard in ‘religious hate’

April 17, 2015 Africa, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Europe, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Migrants, Nigeria, Refugees, Senegal, Syria

Twelve African Christians attempting to reach Europe by boat were allegedly thrown overboard because of “religious hate”. The 12, from Ghana and Nigeria, are all feared dead. Police arrested 15 Muslim migrants, from the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali and Guinea, on suspicion of murder after the boat reached the Italian . . . Read More

Paris attacks parallel fears over growing jihadist threat in Africa

January 14, 2015 Africa, Boko Haram, Charlie Hebdo, Chibok girls, Diffa, France, Islamic extremism, Mahamadou Issoufou, Mali, Mauritania, Muammar Gaddafi, NATO, Niger, Nigeria, Paris, Sub-Saharan Africa

Several African leaders, concerned by the rise of Islamism in the continent, attended the Paris anti-terror march, on Sunday, January 11th. Among the 50 foreign leaders who marched there, African heads of state included those from Mali, Niger, Senegal, Benin, Togo, and Gabon. They all expressed their sympathy to France . . . Read More

As UN targeted by Islamists in Mali, Bishops urge renewed peace efforts

October 9, 2014 Mali Ansar Dine, Bamako, Gao, Kidal, Mali, MNLA, MUJAO, Timbuktu, UN

The UN Mission in Mali honors nine Nigerien peacekeepers killed on 3 October 2014.UN Photo/Marco Dormino While the world’s attention is fixed on IS in Syria and Iraq, it’s easy to forget that last year, French troops were rushed to Mali to prevent a jihadist-influenced coup that threatened to . . . Read More

Islamists want to ‘wipe out’ Christian presence in northern Mali

September 2, 2014 Mali Africa, Bamako, Gao, Islamic extremism, Mali, Sahel, Timbuktu, Tuareg

It’s not only in the Middle East that the advance of Islamist jihadists is exercising the international community. While attention has been focused on northern Iraq and Syria, the French government has been bombing Islamist militant positions in Africa to stop the emergence of jihadists in the Sahel. Now on . . . Read More

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